Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Review: Explore Asian Pastas

I was recently sent a box full of gluten-free, organic pasta products courtesy of Explore Asian.

Although we aren't gluten-free, I was immediately hooked by the great nutritional profile of the first pasta package I opened. The edamame and mung bean fettucine provides 24 grams protein, 10 grams fiber, and 30% RDA iron. It contains only three ingredients: edamame, mung beans, and water.

We had the fettucine with tofu and broccoli in peanut sauce, above, and also served it to the kids with marinara sauce, below. It was great both ways. I love its toothsome, chewy texture. Tony also loved it and suggested I start buying it regularly.

All of the pastas had that same great texture, although they're made from various ingredients. The elbow pasta is made from Thai red rice. I used it to make the Mac and Trees with Buffalo Tempeh from Appetite for Reduction. The red rice pasta isn't quite as nutritionally mighty as the fettucine, packing only 4 grams protein, 1 gram fiber, and 2% iron.

The soybean spaghetti, however, contains a whopping 23 grams protein, 11 grams fiber, and 40% iron. It was delicious with some marinara and sauteed zucchini.